Mocs Golfers In Action This Summer

  • Thursday, June 1, 2017

It’s that time of year. The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team has put a bow on the 2016-17 campaign, but the group continues playing amateur events throughout the off months. Plus, we have exciting updates on alums playing in the professional ranks.
 
Former All-American Stephan Jaeger (2009-12) made huge headlines last summer with the first 58 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event winning his first Web.com Tour title. He got No. 2 in May at the prestigious BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, S.C.
 
Jaeger shot 19-under par over 54 holes in the rain-shortened event turning in cards of 64, 66 and 65.

It was a one-stroke victory over the trio of Tyler Duncan, Xinjun Zhang and Andrew Yun at 18 under.
 
The triumph vaulted the native of Munich, Germany, now a Chattanooga resident, into seventh on the tour money list. The top 25 money leaders earn their PGA Tour cards for 2018 with the leading money winner getting full exemption on tour including the Player’s Championship.
 
Jaeger ($138,234) is currently $50,838 behind Andrew Putnam atop the list and $77,856 clear of 26th-place.
 

Former All-American Jonathan Hodge (2006-09) finished three off the pace of his former teammate tying for fifth at the BMW Charity Pro-Am. His 15-under 199 total matched Jason Gore, Albin Choi, Andrew Landry and Augusto Nunez.
 
The first top 5 and third top 25 of the season pushed Hodge to No. 39 on the money list. That places him just $18,326 out of The 25.
 
Hodge wasn’t done. He followed that performance winning the 69th Annual SunTrust Tennessee State Open at Foxland Harbor Golf & Country Club in Gallatin. After opening with a level-par 72, he fired back-to-back 66s for a 12-under 204 total winning by three over former Moc Steven Fox (2010-13), Grant Leaver, Chad Merzbacher and Clayton Gregory at 9 under.
 
It was a good week for Mocs past and present. In addition to Hodge and Fox atop the leaderboard, Wes Gosselin (2014-17) tied for eighth in his first professional foray at 5 under. Derek Rende (2007-10) was 10th at 4 under, while rising junior Lake Johnson tied for 13th at 2 under rounding out five Mocs in the top 15.
 
Hodge is the fourth UTC golfer – alum or current – in the last 11 years to capture the title. Rende won it in 2007 following his freshman year at Gaylord Springs (Nashville) where Bryce Ledford captured the title in 2009 just ahead of signee Fox who won it in 2014 at Belle Meade Country Club (Nashville). Kip Henley (1979-82) won in 1982 and 1997.
 
Fox, the 2012 United States Amateur champion is leading the Adams Pro Tour. He has two wins, three top 5s and four top 10s. In seven events, he’s made six cuts finishing in the top 25 in all six.
 
The wins came at the Southwest Louisiana Open in March and the Business First Bank Classic in early May. He boasts a 68.9 stroke average with 15 of 26 cards in the 60s.

Incoming freshman Dominic Jones had an impressive May playing in two professional events. He tied for ninth on the Audi Finnish Tour at Nordcenter May 4-6. That was followed by another tie for ninth two weeks later at Alastaro.
 
Jones is joining the program in January 2018.
 

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